Korean Girls Born in 2030 'Will Live to Over 90'

Girls born in Korea in 2030 will live to over 90, a new international study predicts.

This is the first time that life expectancy will break the 90-year barrier, with Korean women taking the lead at 90.8 years. Korean boys born the same year will live to 84.1, another record.

The study by the World Health Organization and Imperial College London was published in the Lancet medical journal on Tuesday. It analyzes life expectancy in 35 OECD member countries.

As of 2030, women in Korea will live the longest in the world, overtaking France (88.6), Japan (88.4), Spain (88.1), and Switzerland (87.7) to top the list.

Korean women who turn 65 in 2030 will live for another 27.5 years, compared to France's 26.1 and Japan's 25.9.

Korean boys born in 2030 will also have the longest life expectancy in the world at 84.1, followed by Australian and Swiss (84), Canadian (83.9), and Dutch (83.7).

"As recently as the turn of the century, many researchers believed that life expectancy would never surpass 90 years," said lead author Prof. Majid Ezzati of Imperial College. "Our predictions of increasing lifespans highlight our public health and healthcare successes."